May 24, 2002 - "One of my favorite new features in NOLF 2 is the banana", proclaimed a proud Fox E3 representative, stationed in front of Fox's latest FPS gem, No One Lives Forever 2.
"Bananas?" I responded in confusion.

"Yes, Bananas".

"Raiiiiggghhttt," I thought to myself, "clearly Fox has lowered the standards for their employee hiring process." I then proceeded to dance mockingly behind the representative's back, cracking jokes to my associates while he obliviously continued to toy around with the game.

He then spent the next 20 minutes slipping, tripping and flipping enemies with NOLF 2's most abstract weapon, the banana peel. Apparently he was more observant of my tomfoolery than I initially presumed because at the end of the demonstration, he snarled at me and retorted, "the banana owns you, fool! As you can see, no one is immune to its potassium rich nutritional attack...not even you." I shed a single tear, turned around and walked back to the IGN war room tattered and ashamed.

Alright, the aforementioned story is, for the most part, completely fabricated, but the part about bananas being a weapon in NOLF 2 isn't. In fact, its just one of many examples of how Fox plans to maintain the game's inventive, comical appeal. The fresh content that made the first incarnation of the game so spectacular obviously hasn't skipped a beat.

This time around you'll once again take the ever-so-fly badass UNITY agent Kate Archer around the world, unraveling another one of HARM's evil plots to take over the world. Okay so the game's fun factor is unquestionable, but what about the rest of it? It's pretty freakin' amazing. Won't take me word for it, eh? I see how it is. Well maybe this will convince you.

To sum up NOLF 2's graphics, its new Jupiter Engine is off the proverbial chain. I witnessed the game take a pathetic, run down trailer park and turn it into a beautiful, rich, hurricane infested extravaganza packed with more flavor than Beyonce. Bootylicious, indeed. The grass was awaverin' in the wind, the tornado awhirlin' and the trailers aflyin' across the camp in all their wonderfully rendered hi-res glory.

But in all seriousness, it actually does make a lot of other titles out there on the market look like an early build of Varmint Hunter (example of lame title provided courtesy of Ivan Sulic). The ambient effects are incredible; there are so many minute details (leaves floating in the wind, unsteady roofs rattling, etc.) that bring the game's environments to life.

On top of this revamped graphical engine is a much deeper gaming experience. The original's gameplay was so varied and inventive that it would be quite a difficult feat to top it. Fortunately, it looks like Fox may just have a few tricks up their sleeves with NOLF 2 that could do just that.

Fans of titles such as Deus Ex will be excited to know that NOLF 2 will incorporate a slash of RPG sugar into its already sweet FPS mix. In the sequel, as players progress, they will be rewarded with skill points that can be used to improve various abilities, such as marksmanship, stealth and headshot. The first NOLF already allows you to play the game in a number of different fashions (i.e. shoot-em-up, sneak around, etc.), and the new skill feature should enhance the game's playability even more.

NOLF 2's depth is further illustrated through a more interactive game world. Players must now open drawers and search through stacks of files to uncover a pertinent artifact, lights can be turned on and off to help slip behind enemies in small rooms and leaning around corners is now an option. Little improvements like should make playing NOLF 2 a much more fulfilling experience, not that it wasn't in the first place.

We'll have more on NOLF2 in the future. In the interim, please enjoy our media below and previous preview materials.

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OC-2-the-death
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Doom over the world